more about: traditions

An Egg-cellent Easter Tradition

April 22, 2011 | By | Comments (0)

Hi Real Simple readers! I’m Brigitt Hauck, the latest addition to the RealSimple.com team and the new holidays and entertaining blogger. As an editorial assistant for the online team, I’ll be writing some of the site’s newsletters and helping the editors with a wide range of projects. I must confess, I’m really excited to share my thoughts on holidays and entertaining with you (and hear what you have to say). I come from a big, close-knit family (my maternal extended family all reside within 5 miles of each other), so holidays are always over-the-top and I’m no stranger to hosting a party or two.

 

In fact, with Easter being this weekend, my family has a very important affair planned–our annual egg dyeing party.

Danas egg 

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Happy Chinese New Year!

February 2, 2011 | By | Comments (0)

New Year’s Eve—December 31—is a night full of Champagne, noisemakers, and dreaming up unrealistic resolutions that won’t last more than a month (or maybe just a few days). Tomorrow is Chinese (or Lunar) New Year, which is a holiday full of eating. Which is my favorite kind of holiday, by the way. Many Asian families will gather tonight on New Year’s Eve for a big, multi-course feast filled with traditional foods, most of which are symbolic—long noodles for a long life, a whole fish for abundance, a whole chicken for prosperity, and my least favorite, seaweed “hair” with dried oysters for wealth.

 

Don’t worry—you won’t need to hunt down shredded seaweed or boil shriveled shellfish in order to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. While you could simply roast a whole chicken or steam a fish, here are a few other Chinese-inspired recipes to make your feast even more festive.

 

Vegetable-fried-rice

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Must-Have Thanksgiving Drink: 12th Century Spiced Wine by Liz Vidyarthi

November 12, 2010 | By | Comments (0)

For the month of November, we have asked some of our favorite food bloggers to share recipes for their must-have Thanksgiving dishes. Join us to see what will be on their tables this year and for years to come.

12th Century Spiced Wine from Liz Vidyarthi

 

Spiced Wine by Liz Vidyarthi

 

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Must-Have Thanksgiving Dish: Comforting Corn Pudding from Whipped

November 8, 2010 | By | Comments (0)

For the month of November, we have asked some of our favorite food bloggers to share recipes for their must-have Thanksgiving dishes. Join us to see what will be on their tables this year and for years to come.

 

Comforting Corn Pudding by Caroline from Whipped

 

Comforting Corn Pudding by Caroline Lubbers from Whipped

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Must-Have Thanksgiving Dish: Rosemary Buttermilk Biscuits from EatMakeRead

November 3, 2010 | By | Comments (1)

For the month of November, we have asked some of our favorite food bloggers to share recipes for their must-have Thanksgiving dishes. Join us to see what will be on their tables this year and for years to come.

Rosemary Butter Milk Biscuits by Kelly from eatmakeread

Rosemary Buttermilk Biscuits by Kelly from EatMakeRead

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How to Start a Family Tradition–and Why It Will Boost Your Happiness.

December 1, 2009 | By | Comments (0)

Starting a family tradition sounds like an oxymoron, right? But traditions have to start somewhere. Studies show that traditions are quite important to family happiness. In fact, family rituals encourage children’s social development and boost feelings of family cohesiveness by 17%. They help provide connection and predictability, which people–especially children–crave. Without traditions, holidays don’t feel much different from ordinary life. And they’re a lot of fun.

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Quiz: Are You the Difficult Person Sitting at the Holiday Table?

November 24, 2009 | By | Comments (0)

Most difficult people don’t realize quite how difficult others find them to be; from their perspective, their words and action seem quite reasonable. If you’re finding others difficult, or touchy, maybe you are the difficult one

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A Secret to Happiness? Pick a Favorite.

November 5, 2009 | By | Comments (0)

On our last family trip to visit my parents in my hometown, Kansas City, it occurred to me that one of the reasons we have so much fun there is that we make the rounds of our “favorites” – our favorite hamburger joint, our favorite ice-cream store, our favorite toy store, our favorite book store, our favorite barbeque place (several contenders for this—it’s Kansas City, after all!)

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Sweet Birthday Tradition

September 18, 2009 | By | Comments (0)

When it comes to Birthday gifts, it’s really the thought that counts…and if you’re like me, those thoughts count even more when they involve delicious, homemade baked goods!

My mother Ginny has a very sweet tradition (pun intended) I wanted to share here: every year, for her best friend’s birthday, she bakes a cake from scratch and delivers it by hand to her friend’s house, usually presented on a beautiful cake stand.

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